


reincarnation ascensation

by keelahselai



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Gen, Implied Reincarnation, Keyblade War (Kingdom Hearts), Reconciliation, Reincarnation, Sad Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-21
Updated: 2018-12-21
Packaged: 2019-08-29 00:26:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16733514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keelahselai/pseuds/keelahselai
Summary: They began the war well-prepared with the knowledge that they might not be there to see the end of it. Knowledge doesn't always make things easier.





	reincarnation ascensation

Ira stared balefully down his keyblade at Aced. He didn't bother to hide the jitter in his arm anymore, too exhausted from such a pointless war to pretend his grievous - yes, grievous - injuries he'd taken weren't affecting him.

He knew he should have taken the chance, to take the final blow, but...

Ira sighed, lowering his keyblade and letting it dissipate in a flash of light. "I'm not killing you, Aced," he said, voice exhausted and broken.

Aced grunted, not seeming surprised. "You should've thought of that before fighting me." All Ira could do was shrug and limp closer, sinking down to sit beside him as they watched hearts of innumerable wielders ascend to join Kingdom Hearts. A jolt of pain shot through him on contact with the ground and he immediately ground his palm into his side in a helpless display of attempting to stop his bleeding. His first thought was how difficult it would be to get the rusty brown stains out of his white robes, his second thought being a dry laugh at the idea he would walk away from this sort of injury.

"This really is it, then." It wasn't a question.

"I hope so," Aced replied, grunting again as he adjusted himself to sit more upright against Ira's shoulder. "I hope this is what the Master was warning us about, though the idea this might not have been what he meant has crossed my mind."

"As horrible as it is to say... well, we're dying. I suppose I shouldn't worry about that anymore," Ira gave a dark chuckle that turned into a coughing fit. He didn't bother to hide the blood on his hand once he'd recovered, instead wiping it on his sleeves in the exact way he used to reprimand Gula for doing. "It's horrible to say, but you can't deny the view is beautiful."

Aced hummed in agreement and they simply gazed at Kingdom Hearts, visible through the x-shaped clearing in the dark clouds above, powerful blue light staining the battlefield in shades of the sky. "It feels like it's been years since we just sat down together like this," he finally said, breaking the comfortable silence they'd fallen into.

"I'm sorry," was all Ira could say to that.

Aced's mouth curled halfway into a sad smile, with his breathing slowing, and a spike of panic shot through Ira. "Stay with me, Aced!"

"I just wanted the Master to come back," Aced said, voice thick with barely contained feeling - a blend of old anger, despair, and an almost childish sense of guilt. "But if these really are our last moments together, I don't want to talk about him. I'm glad to have known you before all this, and it was an honor to call you my comrade and friend." He turned his head, single blue eye peeking at him earnestly through the damage his mask had taken.

Ira's lips pressed into a thin line. "It was an honor," Ira echoed hoarsely, throat tight. "It was an honor to know you, Aced."

"Aced?"

Aced couldn't respond, and Ira watched his heart - beautiful, untarnished - ascend like so many others had.

"Ah," Ira leaned back, heart rending in a way words could never describe. He released the pressure from his side and examined his bloody hand as evidence of Aced's masterful work. "Gula said that Kingdom Hearts was supposed to bring us all back together," he said, to nobody in particular. Then, focusing on the hearts in the sky. "Why?"

A sudden bitter rage welled up within him, angry at the hand fate had dealt them. Angry at the predetermined end they'd come to, that they'd had no hope of averting. Ira dragged himself to his feet and in the heated rebellion of the moment, cast aside the damaged mask the Master had expressly forbidden them from removing. "Kingdom Hearts, why is a heart such a heavy burden to bear?"

He trudged forward again, almost tripping from the sudden dizziness from his gut wound bleeding freely, as well as the crisscross Aced had carved into his face was still running heartily down his face, tasting the iron tang of blood with each breath. Ira pressed his palm to his side again, hot tears beginning to fall. "Answer me! All my heart knows now is torment and sorrow. How can something with so much potential for light fall so easily to pain?!"

As expected, the moon offered no answers. Ira grit his teeth, upturned face twisted with a raw combination of rage and anguish. "If we could be reborn, either spare me the suffering of killing my brothers in arms or _take this burden away!"_ he roared with all the might of his existence, pain shooting through his entire body at the strain of it, arm reaching up as if he could grasp the moon and pull it from the sky, stumbling and falling to his knees.

"Take it," he repeated, feebly now as his vision blurred. "Take it away."

He saw a smear of something light ascend, and had a split moment of reprieve before succumbing. In that fraction of a second, Ira felt as if he'd earned a Faustian punishment.

The pain of having a heart was nothing compared to the vast emptiness of losing it and as he fell, the moon laughed.

**Author's Note:**

> |￣￣￣￣￣ |   
> | IRA |   
> | |   
> | IS |   
> | |   
> | ISA |  
> | ＿＿＿＿＿|   
> (\\__/) ||   
> (•ㅅ•) ||   
> / 　 づ


End file.
